Daviz Simango

The mayor of Beira and leader of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM, opposition), Daviz Simango, took advantage of his party�s admission in October to the Centrist Democrat International (CDI, formerly known as the Christian Democrat International) to go on a tour of European capitals. On 19 November he is scheduled to attend a meeting with company heads in the premises of the French employers� organisation Medef International in Paris. The meeting will be led by Alain Viry, the chairman of the supervisory board of the company CFAO and deputy chairman of Medef International�s Africa committee. Simango should take advantage of the event to contact diplomats from the French foreign affairs ministry and political leaders. Prior to that, he was in Lisbon where he attended a conference on social doctrine of the Church organised by the Universidade Catolica Portuguesa. He also held meetings in the Portuguese capital with businessmen interested in developing the Beira corridor. According to a source close to the CDS, a Portuguese political group that is a member of the CDI, the leader of Renamo (Mozambican opposition), Afonso Dhlakama is considered a has-been in certain European conservative circles that support him. Consequently, Simango is looking increasingly like a good opposition candidate in the next presidential election. He has the advantage of being a former member of Renamo while linked through his family to the Mozambican national liberation struggle.